Building Science Insights

Building Science Insights are short, informal discussions that highlight one or more building science principles. Like all BSC publications, they are grounded by solid research and experience. Unlike most BSC publications, however, they may also feature anecdotes, opinions, and even a joke or two (or three…).

Lively and engaging, Insights provide a fresh perspective on important industry issues. Enjoy them with your morning coffee or any time you need to wake up your building science brain.

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Climate Zone

An edited version of this Insight first appeared in the ASHRAE Journal.
Think of the good old days—the Civil War, WWI, the Great Depression, WWII—crawlspaces were uninsulated. They were ventilated and they didn’t have ground covers—and they didn’t have problems. Why?

If you take rocks and melt them and blow air through them you get fluffy rocks. And fluffy rocks don’t burn. If you take gypsum and make it into sheets you get “sheet rock.” And guess what? Rocks don’t burn. Also, metals don’t burn. You can look that up. OK, some metals burn, but you get the idea. If you take wood, which burns, and add rocks and metals to the wood, you get wood that does not burn. We could be on to something here.